Two new private schools set to open next month

Each will offer individual approaches to learning

Two new independent schools are getting ready to open their doors next month in Aspen Hill and Sandy Spring.

While the School for Tomorrow and the Echelon Academy cater to different students, representatives of both schools say they want to provide a learning experience that allows for more individualized attention and freedom than public schools offer.

Kelly Mazzeo, founder and director of the Echelon Academy, said the Sandy Spring school will cater to students in grades three through eight who have been unsuccessful in a traditional school setting or have language and learning disabilities.

The school, which is set to open Sept. 8 at 816 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, will feature all of the traditional subjects, but make arts activities a big part of the curriculum, Mazzeo said.

The Echelon Academy will also strive to offer a student-to-teacher ratio of 5 to 1 and map out progress and goals for each student.

The Brookeville resident said the idea to start the academy came to her last summer after a few years of home schooling her 12-year-old son, Brady. Mazzeo took Brady out of school in the middle of his third-grade year at Greenwood Elementary School after she and her husband decided he was not getting the kind of attention he needed to succeed.

By providing her son with one-on-one attention and focusing on topics that were of interest to him, Brady's academic performance and morale improved, Mazzeo said.

"This idea really came from a personal journey, and being in the special education field for 20 years, parents have come to me asking for schools that don't exist, so we're looking to fill that void," she said, adding she has been a teacher and parent advocate, and is an adjunct professor in the School of Education at Montgomery College.

Tuition for the Echelon Academy is $17,500 a year, Mazzeo said.

The school has a rolling admissions policy and can accept up to 20 students this year. Her son was the only student enrolled early this week because the school did not get its approval from the Maryland Department of Education until Aug. 12, she said.

In the meantime, the academy will offer after-school programs such as tutoring and mentoring beginning Sept. 22.

Mazzeo said she is excited about the school's future.

"When students are happy and interested in what they're learning, the sky is the limit," she said.

Alan Shusterman, founder and head of the School for Tomorrow, said he could not be more thrilled to open the Aspen Hill school he worked so hard to create. Tuesday will be its first day of classes.

"The dream that I've been working toward for seven years — the last three full-time — is about to become a reality," he said.

The school, which is renting space at the Children's Learning Center at 4511 Bestor Drive, focuses on the questions: What do high school graduates need to know and what tools do they need to be able to succeed in college, the workplace and life in the 21st century?

Shusterman said the School for Tomorrow will answer those inquiries by using a more "individualized, innovative approach" modeled after home schooling, which allows students to learn at their own pace.

Tuition is $25,000 a year and 16 students have enrolled. The school, which also has a rolling admissions policy, will serve students in grades six through 12.

"We are truly going to change the face of education in the D.C. area, and we are going to provide a shining light for others throughout the nation," the Chevy Chase resident said.